hardy, vmware -> some VirtualBox instructions

[Edmund Laugasson]

> no one seems to give me a definite answer about this, is vmware any 
> better than the free alternatives available? i've heard some people 
> complain about USB support, which isn't a problem since i rarely use USB 
> in my virtual machines, but what about stability? vmware never crashed 
> or did anything funny with me, on windows and linux, not a single 
> problem with network even after kernel updates. i want to also ask about 
> compatibility, are vmware's virtual machines compatible with virtualbox? 
> and vice-versa?

I use latest VirtualBox 1.6.2 under Kubuntu 8.04.1 LTS and it never crashed for me.

To allow USB support under VirtualBox:

* close VirtualBox if it were open
* sudo nano /etc/init.d/mountdevsubfs.sh
* approx 40. row ("Magic to make /proc/bus/usb work") remove # from the following rows:

      mkdir -p /dev/bus/usb/.usbfs
      domount usbfs "" /dev/bus/usb/.usbfs -obusmode=0700,devmode=0600,listmode=0644
      ln -s .usbfs/devices /dev/bus/usb/devices
      mount --rbind /dev/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb

* save (F3) and quit nano (F2)
* sudo /etc/init.d/mountdevsubfs.sh stop
* sudo /etc/init.d/mountdevsubfs.sh start
* sudo /etc/init.d/vboxdrv reload


Sometimes there is needed another hack entered from command line:
VBOX=$(grep vboxusers /etc/group | sed 's/vboxusers:x:\(.*\):.*/\1/')
sudo mount -t usbfs -o devgid=$VBOX,devmode=664,nodev,noexec,nosuid none /proc/bus/usb

... or add these rows into /etc/rc.local to have load these at boot.

Some more reading:
http://michael-prokop.at/blog/2007/07/11/virtualbox-usb/
http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-551469.html


To allow VirtualBox machines use external router:
************************************************
     * sudo apt-get update
     * sudo apt-get install bridge-utils
     * sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces and add the following rows:
            auto br0
            iface br0 inet dhcp
            bridge_ports eth0

     * check, that to file /etc/network/interfaces will be one empty row (EOF - End-of-File, which 
can be entered by pressing Enter)
     * save and do restart to networking:
            sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart
     * add virtual network adapter to the user (will be written into /etc/vbox/interfaces) and 
repeat it as many times as you need virtual adapters for your virtual machines (e.g. vbox1, vbox2, 
etc.):
            sudo VBoxAddIF vbox0 username br0
     * sudo chmod 666 /dev/net/tun

To check bridge, type: brctl show
You should see something like:
bridge name     bridge id               STP enabled     interfaces
br0             8000.00024476a5ba       no              eth0
                                                         vbox0

Certainly, if you have someting else as eth0 - replace it with your interface. Each virtual 
interface, e.g. vbox0 has its own MAC-address (which can be easily change through VirtualBox 
graphical interface) and other network parameters as regular network interface.

Now when you create new VirtualBox machine, choose "host interface" and into field "Interface name" 
type appropriate virtual interface name, e.g. vbox0. Note - you can use each virtual network 
interface with one virtual machine at the same time.

Shared folder in Windows Vista
******************************
http://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/799 - one bug is recorded about that.

To have permanent share mount, type at Vista prompt:
net use X: \\VBOXSVR\shared-folder-name /PERSISTENT:YES

....where X: replace with desired drive.

To remove, type:
net use X: /DELETE

Shared folders don't work if user is not member of Administrators group. Regular user without 
administrator rights can access shared folders if user with administrator rights has accessed at 
least once the shared folder. This is annoying but so it is. Currently.

Clone virtual hard disk:
************************
VBoxManage clonevdi /place/where/is/located/original/virtual_hard_disk.vdi 
/place/where/you/would/like/to/have/cloned/virtual_hard_disk.vdi

Then also Windows SID's will be removed and you can the same virtual hard disk with already 
installed OS use in the same VirtualBox in the same computer.

Perfomance and other compare with freeware VM Ware server
************************************************************
Perfomance is increadibly faster than in freeware VM Ware Server. Especially by switching between 
full and windowed screen. VM Ware has true BIOS emulator, which could be sometimes cool to teach it 
to somebody. VirtualBox has just graphical configuration for BIOS before you run virtual machine, 
when VM Ware BIOS will be accessible when you run virtual machine, which is more similar for true 
situation. VM Ware has better shared folder system if you have commercial VM Ware Workstation. 
Freeware VM Ware server doesn't have shared folder but you can share folders over network. I used VM 
Ware before but now I use VirtualBox and it works for me. I even use Estonian ID-card with 
USB-cardreader SC Micro 3110 under VirtualBox and under Estobuntu Linux 
(http://estobuntu.org/estobuntu-english).
But you can try these virtual machine programs yourself and have your own experience. I like 
VirtualBox but it's my decision - you can have different likes. Here is one good list and comparison 
of available virtual machine programs - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_virtual_machines

Some more reading:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/KVM - Ubuntu 8.04 has also Kernel Virtual Machines also with 
graphical manager
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VirtualBox


Best Regards,
Edmund Laugasson